Top Ten Signs That He's the Perfect Guy
by The Child of Time
Summary: Takes place during winter of season seven. Rory brings home a magazine and the girls look through the signs of the "perfect guy". Lorelai is married to Christopher. So why do these signs keep reminding her of Luke?
1. Who's Naked?

**A/N: I don't own anything related to Gilmore Girls. This story takes place while Lorelai is trying to figure out what to write for Luke's character reference in season 7. It's sort of like an "unseen scene". It's not AU because the events before and after this story remain the same as they were on the show. This is just some extra JavaJunkie fluff! :) **

Lorelai sat on her bed with notebook and pencil in hand. Next to her, and scattered around the floor, were cumpled up papers that had been thrown. She would start the character reference, think it sounded stupid, then scribble it out. She would then tear out the page, cumple it, and throw it as far as she could. How could she write an appropriate character reference for Luke Danes? She could not think of anything to write. She was so frustrated. Then she heard knocking at the door. "Coming!" she shouted. She hid her notebook and pencil. Why did she feel the need to hide this from Chris? He was her husband. Her husband. The word made her cringe. The only time she had ever actually pictured herself married was when she was engaged to Luke. And yet here she was...married to Christopher. She ran down the stairs two at a time. Rory had let herself in and was waiting in the kitchen.

"Hey, sweet child of mine" Lorelai greeted her

"Hi, Mom," Rory seemed really chipper

"What makes you so happy?" Lorelai asked suspiciously

"This magazine!" Rory squealed as she flashed it in front of Lorelai. It was one of those silly teen mags that they enjoyed mocking together.

"Who's naked?" Lorelai joked

"No one" Rory was still smiling

"Then why are you so excited about it? I thought you outgrew these things when you graduated high school." Lorelai was a little confused.

"C'mon, Mom" Rory whined. She grabbed Lorelai's wrist and dragged her to the couch. They both sat down, and Rory flipped to page fifty two.

"Top Ten Signs That He's the Perfect Guy" Lorelai read out loud, "Seriously, Rory? You gonna test Logan?"

Rory gasped, "I'd think you would thank me for distracting you from your character reference dilemma!"

"Oh, yes" Lorelai said with mock sincerity, "Thank you, Rory"

Rory giggled, "Please entertain me!" She pouted with puppy dog eyes.

"Fine," Lorelai begrudgingly agreed, "But only if you tell me how Logan scores at the end!"

Rory smiled smugly as she looked back down at the magazine.


	2. Knows How to Make You Smile

**Number One: He Knows How to Make You Smile When You're Feeling Down**

"Are they all going to be this cheesy?" Lorelai giggled

"Mom" Rory scolded

"Tell me about a time that Logan made you smile when you felt down" Lorelai said in a mocking voice

"Just remember, you asked for it" Rory warned, but Lorelai was remembering a story herself.

_Lorelai walked into the diner. She was still in a bad mood about the whole Christmas party thing. She loved those apple tarts. And it killed her that Rory was still going. She was hoping that talking to Luke or drinking coffee would cheer her up a bit. So, she sat down on the stool in determination. _

_"Hey" Lorelai said in a voice that showed her mood._

_"Rory coming?" Luke had asked_

_"No" _

_"She on a date?"_

_"No"_

_"Good, so you've forbid her to see the bag boy"_

_"I'd really rather not talk about it right now"_

_"Just tell me you forbid her to see the bag boy"_

_"I did not forbid her to see the bag boy"_

_"Are you crazy?" _

_"Well, he looks like he's moving up to produce, so he's suddenly become quite a catch. "_

_"That kid is trouble"_

_"Can I order please?"_

_"First time I looked at him, I thought he was trouble"_

_"Excuse me, I'm the one who told you I thought he was trouble and you told me you thought I was crazy"_

_"You are crazy and he is trouble."_

_"He is not trouble! He's 6'2...he's beautiful and he's completely in love with my daughter"_

_"Trouble"_

_"Big time"_

_"I'll get your burger"_

_"Wait. Can I see a menu?"_

_"You need to see a menu?"_

_"Yes"_

_"You come here everyday"_

_"I know, but I usually order the same thing, and tonight I'm in the mood for something a little different."_

_"Menu?"_

_"Piece of paper, list of food offered..."_

_"OK, here. It's not in Japanese"_

_"Don't you have any kind of holiday special? Something festive?"_

_"I just got some Grey Poupon. That's French."_

_"Tonight's my parents big Christmas celebration. There's good food, these amazing apple tarts, big tree. It's the only holiday I actually enjoy going over there for and this year, I'm uninvited"_

_"Why the hell would anyone celebrate Christmas two weeks early?"_

_"Did you even hear the part about me being uninvited?"_

_"To your parents' fake Christmas party?"_

_"Yes"_

_"I did hear that"_

_"Do you care?"_

_"Obviously you do"_

_"Yes, I do and I don't know why"_

_"You liked going..."_

_"I did"_

_"Rory's there without you..."_

_"She is"_

_"You and Rory aren't getting along right now and you feel bad at being separated during a time you usually share together"_

_"Wow"_

_"Did I mention that you come here every damn day?"_

_"I'll have a burger"_

_"Coming right up"_

_Luke came back with a Santa Burger. That had instantly cheered her up._

_"What did you do?" Lorelai asked him_

_"You wanted something festive"_

_"You made me a Santa burger"_

_"It's not a big deal"_

_"He has a hat and everything"_

_"Yeah, I just cut a piece of wonder bread, you know, poured a little ketchup, piped on a little cream cheese."_

_"No one has ever made me something quite this disgusting before. I thank you."_

_"You're welcome"_

"So then I told him that I wasn't having a bad day; not anymore. Isn't that a good story?" Rory asked, "Mom? Earth to Mom?" she added as she waved her hand in front of Lorelai's face.

"Oh...yeah..Sorry, Honey.." Lorelai stuttered

"You were thinking of a story" Rory pointed at Lorelai, "You mocked it, but just now you were thinking of a story!"

"Yeah, I was, so what?" Lorelai asked defensively

"Who were you thinking about?" Rory pressed

Lorelai didn't say anything.

"Luke, right?" Rory said softly, "I know 'cause you get that look on your face."

Lorelai shook her head, "No, Luke is in the past. I have to move on"

Rory nodded, "Okay."

But Lorelai's mind had drifted to another story.

_It had been a rough evening for Lorelai. She kept reminding herself that she was doing this for Sookie and Jackson. She was glad to be in the comfort of the diner again. She walked up to the counter and spoke to Luke._

_"Hey, four menus, a coffee and an anvil please." _

_"What's the anvil for?" Luke asked _

_"For Rune" _

_"What's a Rune?"_

_"Please, not that question again." _

_"Ok," Luke said as he poured Lorelai some coffee, "Here you go." _

_"Mind if I hang out here a sec?"_

_"Why? What's going on over there?"_

_"Sookie and Jackson are on their first date."_

_"Seems to be going well." _

_"I think I'd wear blue to the wedding." _

_"Who's the other guy?" _

_"That's Jackson's cousin. He's my date!" _

_"Lucky girl!" Luke said sarcastically _

_"Yes, I think so. He is, believe it or not, even less thrilled with the match up than I am." _

_"You're kidding, why?" _

_"I'm too tall." _

_Luke chuckled, "Get out." _

_"I'm serious."_

_"Doesn't he understand how great that is? You can get all the stuff from the top shelf." _

_"Exactly. That is exactly what I bring to a relationship. Explain that to him will you, Lorelai said as she took a sip of coffee, "Mmm. Luke, that is an exceptionally good batch of coffee." _

_"Yeah?" _

_"Hello!" _

_"I added a little nutmeg." Luke confessed _

_"Really?" _

_"Yes." _

_"That's very Richard Simmons of you." _

_"Well what can I say. Chicks dig a man with a feminine side." _

_"Oh."_

_That's when Rune became bored and left the diner._

_"I guess you'll only need three menus now." Luke mused_

_"Hey, why don't you make up three fabulous cheeseburgers and send two over there. I'll have mine here." Lorelai suggested _

_"First I gotta watch a man walk out on you, then I have to watch you eat alone. Nope. Too pathetic."_

_"I'm not eating alone. You're here"_

_"I'm working." _

_"Yeah but after three cheeseburgers you're done, unless you're expecting Elijah to stop by." _

_"Ok. Fine.," Luke said as he pulled out a deck of cards, "5-card draw." _

_"Oh! You're on." _

_"Mm-hm. Mm-hm," Lorelai said as she looked at her cards, "Uh...huh. Give me four. Aah, no four more."_

_"You can't have four more, those are the four I dealt you". _

_"Well these don't help me and I have vowed to discard anything negative in my life - first Rune and now these four cards." _

_"Whatever you say," Luke said as he handed her another four cards _

_"Ooh, much better, thank you." _

_"Rune knew when to run away." _

_"Ha."_

_The heard Sookie and Jackson giggling, and turned their attention to the couple. _

_"That's nice." Lorelai said softly _

_"Yep." Luke agreed _

_"The whole 'first date, beginning of the relationship' glow - everything is new and exciting." _

_"Every joke is hilarious." Luke added _

_"Every little touch is incredible" Lorelai said as she reached out and touched Luke's arm. _

_"Mm-hm"._

_"That's a good feeling." Lorelai said in awe _

_"It is at that." _

_"I miss that." _

_"You'll have it again." _

_"Mmm...I guess…" _

_"You know, maybe sometime we could..."_

_And that's when Mrs. Kim had come running and screaming into the diner. Lorelai often wondered what would have happened if they had not been interrupted._

"Ready to read the next one?" Rory asked

"Yeah.." Lorelai sighed, "How long do you think this will take?"

"What'chu afraid of?" Rory asked

Lorelai scoffed, "I'm not afraid of a teen magazine"

"No, you're afraid that you'll realize that you're still in love with Luke" Rory said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Lorelai glared at her, "Keep saying things like that and I'm going to leave" she said coldly

"Fine" Rory shrugged, "Then let's move on to sign number two".


	3. Wraps His Arms Around You

**Number Two: Wraps His Arms Around You**

"Wraps his arms around you?" Lorelai repeated in disgust, "Who wrote this thing?"

"Uh..." Rory said as she scanned the page with her eyes, "Victoria Washington."

"I should call her and tell her to stop writing lists because so far these are very strange_ 'signs'_. I mean come on! These are dumb!" Lorelai ranted.

Rory rolled her eyes, "You are just mad because every rule reminds you of Lu-"

"Shut up, Freud!" Lorelai interrupted before Rory could finish the name.

"As you wish, Cleopatra." Rory said in frustration.

"If you're so obsessed with Denial, the you should move to Egypt!" Lorelai said angrily.

"I don't have to. I can see all of the Denial I want when I look at your face." Rory said, staring at her mother's eyes.

Lorelai took a deep breath to calm herself and paused for a moment before asking her next question in a softer voice. "Can we just get this over with?"

"Sure. If you tell me a story about when Luke wrapped his arms around you." Rory challenged.

_Lorelai was completely panicking when she saw Luke. She felt so stressed, so tired. She felt like a complete failure. She was falling apart. She needed help. She needed Rory._

_"Luke." Lorelai greeted him, trying to hide her emotions._

_Luke looked curious, "Hey, I was just coming to meet you."_

_Lorelai nervously smoothed her hair, "I know. Yeah. Could we uh, -- I need to -- I'm sorry, I need to reschedule our dinner."_

_Luke understood, as always, "Oh sure."_

_Lorelai felt the need to explain further, "Yeah, I'm just very tired."_

_Luke nodded, "Okay."_

_Lorelai noticed how nice Luke looked. "So, I'm sorry that I made you get all dressed up."_

_Luke tried to cheer her up with a joke. "That's okay, it's good for me to do it every once in awhile. It reminds me why I'm not an accountant."_

_Lorelai tried to giggle, but it ended up sounding odd. "Okay."_

_Luke was concerned now. "Everything okay?"_

_Lorelai was was surprised by his question, "What?"_

_"Are you okay?" Luke repeated with growing concern._

_"Why?"_

_"Because you don't look okay." Luke explained as he looked her over._

_"Well, geez, take me now, sailor." Lorelai snapped sarcastically._

_Luke sighed, "I mean, you look distracted."_

_"Distracted, no. Well, maybe -- yeah. Distracted, okay, sure. I'm very distracted." Lorelai stuttered._

_"Anything I can do?" Luke asked_

_Lorelai decided to tell him everything. "You know, there are very few times in my life when I find myself sitting around thinking, "I wish I was married," but today, I mean -- I'm happy. You know? I like my life. I like my friends. I like my stuff. My time, my space, my TV..."_

_"Yeah, sure." Luke agreed._

_Lorelai continued as she wandered to the nearest bench and sat down, "But every now and then, just for a moment, I wish I had a partner, someone to pick up the slack. Someone to wait for the cable guy, make me coffee in the morning, meet the stupid sink before it gets sent back to Canada."_

_Luke joined her on the bench, "What happened?"_

_Lorelai's voice broke, "Um... I just thought I had everything under control, but I didn't, and the inn is just falling apart. This has been my dream forever, and I have it, and it's here, and I'm failing. I can't handle it. I just spend every minute running around and working and thinking..."_

_Luke put his arm across the back of the bench and listened quietly._

_"And I thought I would have help, but Sookie has Davey, and Michel has Celine, and I'm -- I can't do it all by myself!" Lorelai continued_

_Luke moved closer, and Lorelai kept pouring out her heart to him._

_"And I don't even have time to see my kid, and hell, forget see her, just even talk to her. And I miss her. And I sat there in my parents' house just listening to my grandmother basically call me a charity case, and I couldn't even argue with her. I couldn't even say anything, because I am. I'm running out of money, and I don't know what to do about it, and I was gonna, I was gonna ask you for 30,000 at dinner tonight. That's how pathetic I am!"_

_Luke cleared his throat, "Thirty thousand dollars. Well, okay, I mean if you --"_

_Lorelai interrupted him, "I don't want to talk about it now. I don't want to think about it." She leaned against him and hid her face in his chest, "I'm failing!" she sobbed, "I'm failing!"_

_Luke hugged her close. He stroked her hair and gently rubbed her arm. "You are not failing." he assured her._

_Lorelai's voice came out muffled. "I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do."_

_Luke spoke gently. "It's okay."_

"I see you conveniently picked one where you weren't dating." Rory pointed out.

"Not itentional." Lorelai said as she looked down.

"The memories of your time together are to painful." Rory stated, more than asked.

"Not true." Lorelai argued.

"Prove it." Rory challenged once again.

"What is it that you want from me, Kid?" Lorelai asked, at the verge of tears, "That part of my life is over. So, if you would please let me to move on with my _husband_, your _father_, I would greatly appreciate it."

Rory felt guilty now, "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's OK, Sweets." Lorelai said softly. "Can you tell me a story where Logan would follow this rule?" she asked as her mind drifted to a different time when Luke wrapped his arms around her.

Rory shook her head, "I don't think so. You're thinking of another story aren't you?"

"It doesn't matter." Lorelai answered in a monotone voice.

"Yes it does." Rory argued, "If it's about Luke, then it probably could help with the character reference."

"Fine" Lorelai huffed.

_"Lorelai?" Luke called as he entered Rory's bedroom. _

_Lorelai woke up in a chair in Rory's room. Paul Anka was sleeping on the bed. She turned to see Luke walking in. _

_"Is he okay?" she asked groggily. _

_"Yeah, he looks the same." Luke answered calmly. _

_"Is he breathing?" Lorelai was extremely worried. _

_"He's breathing." Luke assured her. _

_"Nice and steady?" Lorelai questioned. _

_"He's fast asleep." Luke confirmed. _

_"Good." was all Lorelai could say at the moment. _

_"Yeah. You been here all night?" Luke asked in a concerned voice. _

_"I kept thinking I heard him." Lorelai answered. _

_"Yeah, he does snore occasionally" Luke commented. _

_"And then he was cold so I put his jersey on him" Lorelai explained. _

_"Yeah, I think he likes it." Luke agreed. _

_"Yeah. Every time I go back up to bed, you know, after checking on him, I just was convinced that he needed me and so I came back and finally I just ended up here." Lorelai continued. _

_"Well, it's as good a place as any." _

_"Yeah. He doesn't want to eat anything. I had all these milk bones ready for him but he doesn't want anything." Lorelai sniffed._

_"What's the baster for?" Luke asked. _

_"In case he's thirsty but he can't lift his head, so I can just shoot water in his mouth." Lorelai explained. _

_"Got it." _

_Lorelai took a deep breath. "He doesn't seem to want anything. "_

_"He's going to be okay, He's strong." Luke assured her. _

_Lorelai shook her head and began crying, "He's so helpless. It must be so awful to be sick when you're a dog. 'Cause you can't run or play or watch TV or do anything to pass the time. Watching a lot of TV is the only good part of being sick..." _

_"I know." Luke said softly _

_"And the thing with the shoes," Lorelai continued, "he was trying to tell me something." _

_"What?" _

_"He was trying to tell me to put my shoes on and take him to the vet because he felt something coming on and he was trying to ward it off and I didn't take him." Lorelai sobbed_

_"I don't think that's why he was playing with your shoes." Luke said _

_Lorelai ignored him, "I tried so hard. I have a list of things that he's afraid of on the fridge. And I try to do the right thing. I should not have socialized him at Kirk's doggy day care the other day. I should have taken him to the best doggy day care in the country, even if it was in Seattle. That's where I should have taken him." _

_"He's fine hanging with Kirk." Luke reminded her. _

_"I did this wrong," Lorelai cried, "I did this all wrong! How could I have let this happen? How did I not see it coming? How didn't I step in and do something? And why can't I fix these things? _

_Luke rubbed her neck "Hey. "_

_"I'm a bad mother!" Lorelai sobbed. _

_"You're not a bad mother." Luke argued, "Did you sleep at all?" _

_Lorelai sniffed, "A little." _

_"You stay home this morning." Luke said in a caring voice, "I'll call Sookie and tell her you'll be late. He's going to be okay." _

_Lorelai shrugged as tears ran down her face, "I hope so." _

_Luke kissed her forehead, "Everything's going to be okay."_

"That happened while I was gone?" Rory asked softly.

"Yeah." Lorelai said as she nodded.

"I'm sorry, Mom" Rory said.

"It's fine. It's all in the past now." Lorelai said with determination.

"It's OK to miss him Mom," Rory whispered gently.

Lorelai nodded and looked down at the page.


	4. Will Do Anything For You

**Number Three: Will Do Anything for You, Despite the Consequences**

"This one sounds more like something Emily Gilmore looks for when searching for the perfect child." Lorelai quipped.

Rory rolled her eyes, "Way to be mature, Mom" she muttered sarcastically.

Lorelai raised her arms in front of her in self defense, "Hey! I'm just saying!"

"Anyway..." Rory tried to change the topic.

"Yes?" Lorelai questioned.

"Do you have a story that you would like to share?" Rory asked.

Lorelai snorted sarcastically, "No."

"I _know_ that there are at least _ten _stories you could tell about this." Rory said accusingly.

"Well then," Lorelai began, "You obviously remember things about my life that I don't."

Rory sighed, "Fine. You can be stubborn if you want to, but it will only prolong this process. I'm not moving on to the next sign until you share two stories with me."

"Who died and made you Queen of the World?" Lorelai joked.

"I'm trying to help you out here." Rory said, "Maybe if you think of these memmories, it will help you with the character reference. Give you something to write about. I mean, you haven't actually had a real talk with Luke- or even seen him for longer than five minutes- in months. How are you supposed to write about someone that you haven't seen in forever? Telling me these stories will help you become inspired again."

"Fine" Lorelai huffed as she began to think of a story.

_Lorelai had been getting ready to leave the diner when Luke stopped her._

_"Wait a minute. Hold on."_

_"Why?" Lorelai asked curiously._

_Luke glanced around covertly._

_"You're making me nervous." Lorelai added._

_"Just, uh... " Luke slided an envelope over to her, "here."_

_"What's this?" Lorelai asked curiously._

_"It's what it is." Luke answered._

_Lorelai held the envelope to her forehead "A monk, a trunk, and a skunk."_

_"What are you doing?" Luke asked in an exasperated tone._

_"Carnak, although I don't have a punch line. Never stopped Johnny." Lorelai continued._

_"Put that down." Luke commanded her, "Hide it."_

_"What is it?" Lorelai asked again._

_"Open it later." Luke replied._

_Lorelai opened the envelope and stared at it for a moment. Then she sighed and sat down. "A check to me for 30,000 dollars." she stated in shock._

_"Shh!" Luke hushed her._

_"Luke, this is the money I was gonna ask you for."_

_"And you did ask, and there it is."_

_Lorelai shook her head, "But I didn't. Not officially. I blubbered an amount to you, and we didn't get to talk about a repayment schedule..."_

_"It's okay." Luke insisted._

_"...Or interest or collateral. I had charts and projections. I wanted to take you out to a nice dinner." Lorelai continued._

_"So send me a Honeybaked Ham." Luke suggested sarcastically._

_"But this is wrong. This is not how you do these things." Lorelai said._

_"I don't know how to do these things." Luke said as he began to lose patience, "Will you just take the money?"_

_"I'm sorry, we at least have to go over the basics." Lorelai said as she pulled out a napkin and scribbled on it._

_"I don't want to read that." Luke said in a monotone voice._

_"Well, I'm not leaving until you read this napkin." Lorelai pushed the napkin over to Luke._

_"Okay." Luke sighed. He read the napkin and began editing it, "Fine. Okay? That's okay. That's too much. That's sufficient." He passed the napkin back to Lorelai._

_"Okay," Lorelai agreed, "but what about this?" She wrote something down and passed it back._

_Luke looked at the napkin then back up at Lorelai, "Nicole?!"_

_"Hey! I thought we were writing and sliding!" Lorelai scolded him._

_"What about Nicole?" Luke asked._

_"I need to know her role." Lorelai stated._

_"There is none." Luke responded._

_"Luke," Lorelai began, "if it's joint money, then I should acknowledge that and thank her the next time I see her..."_

_"You're not gonna see her." Luke replied, "Now, can we stop talking about this whole thing?"_

_"Okay, but I insist on typing up something legal and binding for this loan." Lorelai said._

_"Okay, okay. I really just don't want to talk about this anymore."_

_"Okay. We'll dot the Is and cross the Ts another day." Lorelai suggested._

_"Yes, we'll cross and dot." Luke agreed._

_"I just have to write down one more thing." Lorelai said_

_"What?" Luke asked impatiently, "What is so important now?" He read the napkin. "You're welcome." he sighed._

_Lorelai gatherd up her belongings and left. Luke smiled down at the note._

"Wow" Rory said softly, "Thirty thousand dollars?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah" she confirmed sheepishly.

"You know Luke was always helping us out." Rory said, "He was pretty much my father figure while I was growing up."

"Hey, since you have so many stories about Luke, then why don't you share next." Lorelai suddenly suggested.

"I do have plenty." Rory agreed, "The mashed potatoes, the caterpiller funeral, the coffee cake, my graduation, the matress at Yale..." she listend.

"Ha!" Lorelai exclaimed.

Rory looked oddly at her, but said nothing.

"I have a story that beats yours!" Lorelai explained.

Rory grinned. Her mother was finally opening up and willingly participating.

_Lorelai walked into the closed diner. She sat down and looked up at Luke. "Rory dropped out of Yale." she announced quietly_

"What?" Luke asked in disbelief.

"She dropped out of Yale and she moved in with my parents, who I went to for help, and they stabbed me in the back. Everything we worked for. All these years. Her whole future. She was supposed to have more than me. She was supposed to have everything. That was the plan. We had a plan." Lorelai explained.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I have to jump in here." Luke insisted. "Uh, I know you think you have this thing handled, but I can help. First off, we call Yale and we tell them something like, uh, Rory had a chemical imbalance and she was mentally out of her mind when she told them she was dropping out. And then we get her out of your parents house whatever way we can. We lock her up in her room with you, because you can talk anybody into anything. And if worse comes to worst, we will drive her to school every day and we will follow her to class and camp out there to make sure she goes. I'll take morning classes, you take afternoon classes, or the other way around, if it works out better for your schedule. And I know there's a few kinks to work out, the kidnapping thing might be a little problematic but either way, she is not quitting school. This was her dream. I am not going to let this happen!" Luke rambled.

_Lorelai looked up at him and smiled._

"Was that when you...?" Rory asked timidly.

Lorelai nodded silently.

"There are so many other stories we could tell where Luke did things for us and then claimed that it was no big deal." Rory noted, attempting to change the topic for her mother's sake.

"But we want to finish this thing before you graduate from Yale." Lorelai reminded her daughter.

"Luke's a good guy." Rory said softly.

"Yeah," Lorelai whispered, "Luke's a good guy." Rory saw a single tear make its way down Lorelai's cheek.


	5. Knows What You're Thinking

**Number Four: Knows What You're Thinking, Even When You Don't Say It**

"So, is Logan psychic? Or can he read minds? Because otherwise, according to Victoria Washington, he is not good enough for you. You'd better break up with him immediately. He is _sooo _not the perfect guy!" Lorelai commented dramatically.

"Now, stop right there." Rory scolded. "I agree that this whole thing is rather silly, but you have to admit that remembering these stories is actually helping you come up with something to write."

"Oh yes," Lorelai continued dramatically, "Because when that judge is reading Luke's character reference, the story of the basket auction will definitely help her make her decision."

Rory looked at her mother in confusion. "Wait. What does a basket auction have to do with this?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's right, you were too busy with Jess."

Rory blushed. "Just tell the stupid story already."

_Lorelai and Luke walked up to the crowd where Lorelai's basket was being auctioned off._

_"Forty-five fifty." They heard some guy yell._

_"Forty-six." Another guy responded._

_"Forty-six fifty." A third one jumped in._

_"Forty-seven." Guy number one challenged._

_"Go, go on." Lorelai told Luke_

_Luke looked at her like she was insane. "Forty-seven dollars, are you kidding?"_

_"Luke!" Lorelai pleaded._

_Guy number two was raising his bid. "Forty-seven fifty!"_

_"For what? Two stale Pop Tarts and a Slim Jim?" Luke asked incredulously._

_"Okay, you're not getting the whole saving me here thing, are you?" Lorelai asked Luke._

_"Fine. Forty-eight." Luke bid._

_After some more bidding between the men, Lorelai was relieved to hear Taylor announce, "Sold for fifty-two fifty."_

_"Yes! Ha, ha, sorry guys, don't feel bad. I'm totally into Dungeons and Dragons. You've skated." Lorelai said with a smile._

"I fail to see how that relates to Luke being able to read your mind." Rory commented with a smirk.

Lorelai gasped. "Because he knew what was in my basket, Duh!"

Rory sighed. "I'm going to ask you to do something that I know is very challenging for you," she said as she patted her mother's shoulder. "How about you try to...Be. Serious."

Lorelai pouted. "I thought that it was very amusing."

Rory smiled. "Amusing, yes. Relevant, no."

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Yale has ruined you. Why do you have to be so darn serious?!"

"Ooooh!" Rory squealed. When Lorelai looked at her with raised eyebrows, she continued in a chant. "That just reminded me of a story!"

"Oh, great." Lorelai said dryly.

_"...you can go in with your dad until he gets here." the orderly said._

_Lorelai nodded. "Thanks."_

_"Go ahead, I'm good." Luke assured her._

_"That's ok, uh, I'm gonna go find my mom and Rory and tell them he's back up." Lorelai said._

_"I can tell them when they get here." Luke suggested._

_"That's ok, uh, I think they'd like to know now." Lorelai insisted. She turned around and almost knocked over her mom "Ah!" she said in shock._

_"Lorelai, you almost ran me over." Emily scolded._

_"Well, good thing we're in a hospital." Lorelai quipped._

_"Where were you going?" Emily asked._

_"To find you," Lorelai answered. "They just brought dad up."_

_"When?"_

_"Just now." Lorelai replied._

_"Well how is he? Did you talk to him?" Emily demanded_

_"No not yet, I was coming to find you." Lorelai repeated._

_"Well come on." Emily said as she headed towards Richard's room._

_Lorelai hesitated. "You go ahead mom, I'm gonna go find Rory."_

_"Fine." Emily said as she went into Richard's room._

_"Ok."_

_"You know I could look for Rory." Luke suggested again._

_"No that's ok, I'll do it." Lorelai insisted._

_"I thought so. Hey look, it's Rory." Luke commented as Rory approached._

_"The coffee machine was jammed so I got us some chicken soup and some Pez." Rory announced._

_"I was just coming to look for you." Lorelai said._

_"Why, is everything ok?" Rory asked with panic in her voice._

_"They just brought Grandpa back up. He's in room 202." Lorelai explained._

_"Well come on." Rory said as she headed towards the room._

_Lorelai hesitated again. "You go ahead, I just - I have to make a call."_

_"Well hurry up." Rory said as she left._

_"I'll meet you there." Lorelai said_

_"So who are you gonna go find now?" Luke asked with a smirk._

_"Stop." Lorelai warned._

_"How about Jimmy Hoffa? That'll keep you busy for a while."_

_"I said stop." Lorelai repeated._

_"You can't avoid going into that room forever." Luke said._

_"I'm not avoiding anything." Lorelai lied, "I'm going to find coffee."_

_"The machine's jammed." Luke reminded her._

_"Well there are other machines." Lorelai retorted._

_"Admit you're afraid." Luke said._

_"You have no idea what you're talking about."_

_"The truth hurts." Luke told her._

"How do you even know that story?" Lorelai asked suspiciously. "You weren't there. Well, for part of it you were...but the majority of the time it was just me and Luke."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Do I need to remind you that you tell me absolutely _everything_?"

Lorelai smiled. "Speaking of telling things and not telling things. Do you remember your first kiss?"

"I do recall being present for that event." Rory deadpanned.

"You didn't tell me about it at first." Lorelai stated.

"Is this going somewhere?" Rory asked impatiently.

"Oh, I was just thinking about a story, but I'll just not tell it since I'm annoying you and all." Lorelai teased.

Rory gave her a death glare, so Lorelai began telling the story.

_Lorelai was hiding in a aisle and watching Dean bag groceries. This was the boy who had kissed her daughter, and she was going to spy on him and try to find an acceptable reason to hate him._

_"Hey." Luke said from behind her._

_Lorelai was started of out her reverie. "What are you doing?" she asked him._

_"What are you doing?" he replied._

_"I asked you first." Lorelai pointed out._

_"I ran out of cream." Luke explained._

_"Yeah me too." Lorelai said distractedly._

_"What are you starin' at?" Luke questioned._

_"Nothing. Don't look, don't look." Lorelai said in a panicked voice._

_"What is wrong with you today?" Luke asked incredulously._

_"Rory got kissed." Lorelai revealed_

_"What?"_

_"Rory had her first kiss and that guy did it." She explained._

_"Ah." Luke was getting all monosyllable again._

_"Yeah."_

_"The new kid." Luke commented._

_"Yep." Lorelai answered. Apparently using monosyllabolic language was contagious._

_Luke laughed._

_"Oh look at him. Look how smug he is." Lorelai said in disgust._

_"He's bagging groceries." Luke pointed out, "It's hard to be smug bagging groceries."_

_"Oh look how he just handled those lemons!" Lorelai continued._

_"What are you talking about?" Luke asked in exasperation._

_"He threw them in the bag. Not tossed them or placed them but threw them like they were nothing to him." Lorelai complained._

_"They're lemons."_

_"They're symbolic."_

_"OK. We need to get you out of here." Luke said._

_"No. That Lothario over there has wormed his way into my daughter's heart and mouth and for that he must die!" Lorelai said dramatically._

_"That's it, let's go."_

_"No." Lorelai argued._

_"You're not going to kill the bag boy." Luke said._

_"Why not?" Lorelai questioned._

_"It's double coupon day. You'll bring down the town." Luke answered as he dragged Lorelai out of the store._

_"OK, OK. I'm out. Stop pushing me." Lorelai whined._

_"What are you thinking spying on that kid like that?" Luke asked her._

_"I don't know. I just wanted to see him. I mean I've seen him already but that was before he was --"_

_"Rory's boyfriend?" Luke finished for her._

_"Shush, you." Lorelai scolded._

_"She's growing up." Luke stated._

_"I know."_

_"There's nothing you can do about that." Luke continued._

_"OK, Mr. Reality, break into somebody else's house." Lorelai said in frustration._

_"Sorry." Luke apologized._

_"Why didn't she tell me?" Lorelai asked._

_"What?" Luke asked in confusion_

_"Why didn't Rory tell me about the kiss?" Lorelai elaborated._

_"Maybe she didn't know you'd take it so well." Luke said dryly._

_Lorelai ignored him. "Want to hear something crazy?"_

_"'Cause all the talk up until now has been so normal." Luke said sarcastically._

_"He kind of looks like Christopher." Lorelai said softly._

_"The grocery kid?" Luke asked._

_"Yeah. He looks like Christopher." Lorelai confirmed._

_"And Christopher is Rory's dad?" Luke asked_

_"The hair, the build, something about the eyes. He reminds me of Christopher." Lorelai continued._

_"Well that's not too surprising." Luke commented._

_"You're going to quote Freud to me? 'Cause I'll push you in front of a moving car. This talk was going so well."_

_"You and Rory are a lot alike." Luke explained. "It's not surprising you would have similar tastes in men."_

_"I guess. But why? Why didn't she tell me? We tell each other everything." Lorelai asked sadly._

_"This is different" Luke reminded her._

_"But we tell each other everything else. But this she keeps a secret. It's 'cause it's a guy thing."_

_"Probably." Luke agreed._

_Lorelai began to panic. "Well that's not good. I have to make her understand that I'm OK with the guy thing. 'Cause not talking about guys and our personal lives -- that's me and my mom. That is not me and Rory."_

_"Are you OK with the guy thing?" Luke asked her._

_"Yes." Lorelai lied_

_"Really?" Luke asked in disbelief._

_"OK...ish." Lorelai confessed._

_"That's not OK." Luke pointed out._

_"Well it's OK with an -ish." Lorelai argued._

_"Whatever you say."_

_"She just -- she thinks I'll disapprove, right? Well I won't. I will show her that I think this is great. Once she sees that I think this is great, everything will be back to normal between us, right? Right -- OK, good." Lorelai rambled._

_"So you passed the need for an actual person to talk to several minutes ago." Luke commented._

_"Oh, yeah. Before the gelato stand." Lorelai agreed._

_"You're an amazing woman."_

_"Thank you for noticing."_

Rory sighed. "Sorry I didn't tell you right away."

Lorelai smiled, "Oh, Hon, that was forever ago. And you've already apologized."

Rory nodded. "I know, but it was a big deal, and I should have gone to my best friend first instead of chickening out."

Lorelai got a playful glint in her eyes, "I'm your best friend?!"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Mom. You're the Thelma to my Louise."


	6. Stares at You

**Number Five: Stares at You**

"Great!" Lorelai said sarcastically. "Now they're teaching America's teenage girls that freaky, pervert, stalker dudes are _obviously _soul mates!"

"Mom," Rory said with a laugh, "I think they just mean 'stare' as in he looks at you and is just so caught up in your beauty that he can't look away."

"Oh, got it." Lorelai continued. "When a random guy checks me out, it's a sign that we are completely compatible."

Rory sighed. "You're impossible, you know that?"

Lorelai shook her head. "I live by the idea that nothing is impossible, so I cannot agree with what you just said."

"Are you trying to confuse me?" Rory asked with a smirk.

Lorelai smiled at her daughter. "Maybe." she said simply.

"Well, you'll be glad to know that it's not working." Rory announced smugly.

"OK, there was this one time." Lorelai admitted.

"_One_ time?" Rory questioned.

"Shut up or I won't share" Lorelai said as she stuck her tongue out.

_Lorelai walked into the diner, ignoring the 'closed' sign. "Hey." she greeted._

_"Hey. Why aren't you at your party?" Luke asked._

_"Well that's funny, I was about to ask you the same thing." Lorelai replied._

_"Ah, well, I just got kinda busy here."_

_"Oh, yes, I can see that. Boy they keep making that ketchup slower and slower, huh?" Lorelai said with a hint of sarcasim._

_"It's the Heinz family's little joke." Luke replied._

_"Boy, it's really pretty crazy out there." Lorelai commented._

_"Oh, I can imagine." Luke agreed._

_"Lots of people all having fun, just the kind of thing you'd hate." Lorelai teased._

_"Sounds awful" Luke played along._

_"You'd be miserable." Lorelai continued._

_"Oh, yes I would." Luke replied._

_"But in spite of all that, I was kind of thinking, and you don't have to, that maybe you could pull yourself away for a second." Lorelai said._

_"Ah, well I…" Luke began._

_"I mean, you know, finish the ketchup tonight, but maybe leave the worchestshire sauce for tomorrow." Lorelai suggested._

_"I'll see how it goes."_

_"Okay. I mean, it's just…it's a really big night for me tonight, and I don't know, it just feels like you should be there." Lorelai babbled. "Anyway, I'll let you get back to your ketchup." Then she left._

_Later on, while dancing with Max, she saw Luke come out of the diner. She smiled and waved. He waved back and sat down next to the ballerinas dressed like brides. He sat there and just watched her as she danced._

"I saw him sitting there." Rory recalled, "I snapped a picture, actually."

"You took a picture?" Lorelai questioned.

Rory gave her a 'duh' look. "_Luke_ was sitting next to a group of _ballerinas_ and you are asking me why I took a picture of this?"

Lorelai smiled at the mental image. "Good point. And I want copies of this picture!"

Rory smiled and nodded, "Sure thing."

Lorelai looked down at the page again. "Shall we move on?" she asked.

Rory shook her head. "No way are you getting out of this one. I _know_ that Luke stares at you all of the time."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes and glared at her daughter.

Rory continued with a softer tone. "All I'm asking for is _one_ more example, OK?"

"I cannot_ believe_ I am taking orders from my daughter." Lorelai commented.

"I'm sorry that I seem pushy, it's just that it seems to me that you recovered to quickly from the Luke break up. You didn't wallow." Rory said gently.

"I did too wallow" Lorelai argued.

Rory rolled her eyes. "We both know that you didn't wallow or mourn for the appropriate amount of time. I'm just giving you the opportunity to do that."

"Well, I'm ignoring the opportunity." Lorelai replied with a fake smile.

Rory sighed in frustration. "It's healthy for you to tell stories about him, Mom, it's theraputic!"

"Theraputic, my ass." Lorelai muttered bitterly.

"It'll make you feel better..." Rory chanted in a sing song voice.

Lorelai shook her head furiously. "No, Rory!" she screamed, "It will not make me feel better, OK? It's too painful! Just _please_ stop!"

"Mom" Rory whispered.

Lorelai blinked back tears. "You want another example? Fine!" She paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, her voice was a whisper. "Every morning he would stare at me when he thought I was sleeping. He'd just sit there and stare. He always thought that I was sleeping, so I wouldn't notice, but I did. I would pretend to be alseep, just so that he could keep staring. And we'd lay there like that for probably a good thirty minutes every morning. He would be staring and I would pretend to be alseep. And it was just so...so _peaceful_. And then his alarm would go off and I'd pretend to wake up..." Lorelai quickly wiped away the two tears that had made their way down her cheeks.

Rory hugged her mom tightly. "I'm so sorry."

Lorelai sighed. "So...can we move on now?"

Rory nodded slowly, "Yeah, yeah, of course."


	7. Always Helpful or Caring

**Number Six: Always Helpful or Caring**

"Finally" Lorelai sighed, "This one, I can agree with."

Rory nodded. "This one is the textbook definition of Luke."

"Rory, stop." Lorelai warned her.

"I'm serious," Rory continued, "If you looked up 'Luke' in the dictionary, this is what you would find."

"I don't think they include names in the dictionary." Lorelai commented.

Rory rolled her eyes, "How would _you _know that?"

Lorelai gasped dramatically. "Are you insulting my smartness?!"

Rory laughed, "Nope, but that last statement just did."

Lorelai gasped, "I'm offended! My own flesh and blood! I never knew this is what your really thought of me, Rory Gilmore..."

Rory smiled and hugged her mom. "I'm just kidding. I love you, Lucy!"

"Remember that chick you had when you were at Chilton?" Lorelai asked.

"That was random." Rory stated.

"Stella?" Lorelai continued.

Rory nodded. "Also know as case study 5678."

Lorelai smirked. "Five, six, seven, eight?! Is Miss Patty getting to you?"

Rory sighed. "Just making up a number, Mom."

"Anyway," Lorelai said impatiently, "I have a story about Stella."

"Stella?" Rory questioned.

"Stella!" Lorelai called dramatically.

Rory rolled her eyes.

_Lorelai looked at the bird cage in horror. It was empty. Stella was gone. Where was she?!_

_"Stella!" Lorelai yelled. She began hunting the house looking for the bird, but had no luck._

_"Oh, no. No, no. OK. Stella, do something. Show yourself. Molt or chirp or something. Oh this is so not funny. Not funny, not funny. Oh this is so unbelievable. All day long, just chirps like a maniac at the top of her lungs. Now, nothing. Silence. Marcel Marceau chicken. OK, that's OK. I can fix this. We can fix this." she muttered as she looked around. She picked up the phone and dialed Luke's number._

_"I'm going to make this better." She said to herself, "I'm going to fix --Hello?"_

_"Yeah." Luke responded._

_"Luke? Stella got out and I don't know -- do I put seed on the floor? Do I make cheeping sounds? Or do I pull a Lucy Ricardo and walk like a chicken so she thinks I'm her mother?"_

_"Who the hell is this?" Luke asked in confusion._

_"What do you mean who is this? It's Lorelai. Who else would call you looking for her baby chick?" Lorelai asked incredulously._

_"You're right. I'm the idiot." Luke said sarcastically, "Go on."_

_"Could you come over here, please, and help me?" Lorelai begged._

_"Uh, yeah, OK. I'll be right over."_

_"OK, hurry!" Lorelai said before hanging up._

"...And he came and we found the bird and we all lived...happily ever after" Lorelai sighed.

Rory noticed her mother's pause and the sadness in her voice. "I remember that night. I lost Apricot too."

Lorelai giggled, "The thing _I_ remember most about that night is that dress you had on!"

"Thanks, Mom" Rory said in exasperation.

"Oh!" Lorelai squealed, "And the pearls!"

"Enough!" Rory interrupted.

"Yes, Ma'am" Lorelai said as she saluted.

"I do not appreciate being mocked, Cadet Kelly!" Rory said in mock anger.

"Permission to share story ma'am?" Lorelai asked while maintaining the salute.

"Permission granted...Maggot!" Rory laughed.

_Lorelai was just about to walk out the door, when Luke came in with bags of ice._

_Lorelai smiled. "Oh! You're a vision! Sookie, we have ice!"_

_Sookie stuck her head out from the kitchen for a moment. "Hallelujah." she commented._

_"How did you know?" Lorelai asked_

_"Well, a good rule of thumb is you can never have too much ice." Luke explained._

_"Oh, you're the best!" Lorelai exclaimed as she hugged Luke tightly. Then she noticed her mother come out of the kitchen._

_"That's -- Oh, hi, Mom. This is my friend Luke." she stuttered._

_"How are you doing?" Luke asked politely._

_"Fine, thank you." Emily responded._

_"Well I'd better get these in the freezer before they melt..." Luke suggested._

_"Well, not very likely in here." Lorelai whispered to him._

"That was a good birthday party." Rory commented.

Lorelai smiled, "That's because I'm the Queen of Partying, The Hostess with the Mostest, the Most Groovy Put Out Chick- no dirtyness intended- If I plan, than the party will positively be filled with pizazz, because _I _am the Queen of Partying whether that is planning or attending!"

"And oh, so modest." Rory added sarcastically.

"Modesty is for losers." Lorelai said with a pout.

"Vanity is for divas." Rory countered.

"Fine. You win this round." Lorelai surrendered sadly.

"Shall I get the Rocky soundtrack?" Rory teased.

"Ah! No! Kirk flashbacks!" Lorelai said as she covered her eyes with her hands.

Rory laughed. "Speaking of flashbacks..." she began.

Lorelai sighed. "OK, one more. And then it's on to the next stupid sign."

"Shh!" Rory hushed as she glared at her mother. "You're going to hurt Madeline's feelings."

"Madeline the magazine?" Lorelai asked.

Rory nodded. "She's really sensitive so you have to be gentle with her."

Lorelai smiled. "You really are my daughter."

"Was there really ever any doubt? I came from within you after all." Rory commented.

"Uh, _gross_!" Lorelai said as she scrunched her nose.

"Ready to move on?" Rory asked as she gestured towards the magazine.

"Yes," Lorelai nodded. "Next sign please."

"As soon as you share the story."

"Darn!" Lorelai snapped. "In all of our chitter-chatter, I forgot the story."

"Guess we'll have to wait until you remember..." Rory said as she stretched out her arms.

"You're mean today" Lorelai pouted.

_"Luke, this was so nice of you, giving me a hand like this. It was above and beyond the call of duty." Lorelai said as she exited the truck._

_"Don't start this again." Luke muttered._

_"I'm not starting anything." Lorelai said in an innocent voice._

_"Good."_

_"I mean, if you just had stored the mattress. . ." Lorelai began._

_"That's where we're not starting." Luke interrupted._

_"What? It was your choice to come along." Lorelai reminded him._

_"I wanted the safe return of my truck without the mattress guaranteed. This was the only way." Luke clarified._

_"You know, I miss our friendship. We used to be so close. The summers at the lake. . ." Lorelai started dramatically._

_"Let's just move along here, okay?" Luke asked impatiently as Tess approached._

_"Hi, there." Tess greeted._

_"Hello. " Luke responded uncomfortably._

_"Is that your mattress?" Tess asked._

_"Well, uh, yeah." Luke responded._

_"Hm. Tag has a Yale stamp." Tess commented._

_"Oh, well, when I said it was mine, it's not mine. It belongs in the dorm. We were just driving it around New Haven for awhile." Luke rambled._

_"Uh huh." Tess said unbelievingly._

_"To air it out." Luke explained._

_"Oh, okay..." Tess responded in confusion._

_"We're gonna take it right back in." Luke continued._

_"Great." Tess said as she walked away._

_Luke turned to Lorelai. "Thanks for jumping in."_

_"You seemed to have a handle on it." Lorelai smiled._

_"What do we do now?" Luke asked_

_"Unload." Lorelai said as she walked away. _

_"With the mattress. What do we do with the mattress?" Luke said with a sigh._

"I always found you and Luke entertaining. Especially when you were bickering." Rory said with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah, we were the best." Lorelai said dismissively, "Next sign!"


	8. You Get Butterflies When You See Him

**Number Seven: You Get Butterflies When You See Him**

"Now that," Lorelai said as she jabbed the magazine with her finger, "is juvenile!"

Rory gasped as he snatched the magazine from her mother's hands. "You hurt Madeline!" she whined as she smoothed the page with her hands, "I can't believe you hurt her! Don't worry, Maddie, she didn't mean it."

"I'm sorry, Madeline." Lorelai apologized, "I was just irritated by Victoria Washington, the writer of this dumb article, but I should not have taken it out on you."

Rory nodded and handed back the magazine. "She accepts your apology."

Lorelai pouted. "I feel guilty now!"

"You know what will clear your conscience? Giving me an example." Rory suggested.

Lorelai sighed, "That is _so_ not going to work on me."

Rory nodded, "Should've known you wouldn't be that easy..."

Lorelai winked an adopted an accent, "Sweetheart, Lorelai Gilmore is never easy." She paused for effect before giggling. "Dirty!"

Rory rolled her eyes. "Behold, my mother, ladies and gents."

Lorelai giggled again. "Having a dirty mind makes life more enjoyable! I can make almost _anything_ dirty. It's one of my greatest assets."

"Yes," Rory agreed, "You even turned the sentence 'Luke can waltz' into a rated R statement." Her face broke into a smile. "You _soo _had butterflies then!"

"Yes, I had butterflies when I danced with Luke." Lorelai admitted.

"Ha!" Rory laughed triumphantly. She pulled out her iPod and searched for something before handing it to Lorelai. Lorelai curiously accepted it and slipped the ear buds into her own ears. She immediately recognized the song playing:

_Now that I've worn out, I've worn out the world_

_I'm on my knees in fascination_

_Looking through the night_

_And the moon's never seen me before_

_But I'm reflecting light_

Lorelai couldn't help but grin at the memory. She closed her eyes and waited for the song to end before she pulled out the ear buds and returned the iPod to Rory.

"You're a freak." Lorelai said with a smile, "How did you even know what song it was?"

Rory snorted sarcastically, "Yeah, like I was going to forget after you repeatedly told me what an amazing song it was and that I should buy it for my iPod. You also bought it for your iPod and created a CD titled 'Best Song Ever' that had nothing on it, but twenty tracks of 'Reflecting Light'. You sang it over and over and over again. And if you weren't singing it, you were humming it. You made it your ring tone. Need I go on?"

Lorelai laughed, "You've made your point. Dancing with Luke gave me butterflies."

"So did seeing him at the diner" Rory said with a smirk.

Lorelai rolled her eyes as Rory began telling the story from her point of view.

_Lorelai was sitting at table watching Luke intently when Rory entered and sat down._

_"I can't believe you didn't wake me up." Rory said as she sat down._

_"Me and what army?" Lorelai asked._

_"I only have so much time off. I don't want to waste it all sleeping till noon." Rory continued._

_"There was no waking you up." Lorelai defended herself. "You were completely out of it. We're talking Farrah on 'Letterman.'... Hey."_

_"What?" Rory asked._

_"Luke is coming over here. I want you to pay very close attention." Lorelai said softly._

_"To what?" Rory asked in confusion._

_"Shh!" Lorelai commanded as Luke approached._

_"Coffee?" Luke asked._

_"Oh, sure, coffee would be great. Coffee, hon? Yeah, she'll have coffee." Lorelai babbled._

_"Okay. You want a minute?" Luke asked suspiciously._

_"Yes, a minute would be great." Lorelai quickly agreed._

_"Okay." Luke said as he walked away._

_Lorelai turned to Rory. "Well?"_

_"What?" Rory asked again._

_"You notice anything?" Lorelai questioned urgently._

_"Anything?"_

_"Anything weird, anything different?"_

_"About Luke?"_

_"Of course about Luke." Lorelai said in frustration, "Did you notice anything different?"_

_"Like what?"_

_"Like a vibe, an attitude. Did he look at me differently?"_

_"Differently than what?" Rory asked._

_"Differently than he did." Lorelai explained._

_"Differently than he did when?"_

_"Before." Lorelai said simply._

_"Before what?"_

_"Before before. Rory!"_

_"How on earth can you be frustrated with me right now?" Rory asked._

_"Fine. Come here." Lorelai said._

_Lorelai hurriedly pushed Rory out the diner door._

_"What's your damage, Heather?" Rory asked._

_"I think I'm dating Luke." Lorelai blurted._

_"What?" Rory asked in disbelief._

_"I'm not sure. It's just a possibility. I could be wrong."_

_"But how? When?"_

_"I went with him to his sister's wedding, and it was really nice. We had a really good time. We laughed a lot, and we ate, and then we danced."_

_"Danced? How?"_

_"We pop-locked." Lorelai replied sarcastically._

_"Was it a fast dance, slow dance, group dance?" Rory continued._

_"It was a slow dance." Lorelai said. "What is group dance?'"_

_"The hustle, the hora." Rory supplied._

_"No hustle, no hora. It was a slow dance -- a waltz. Luke can waltz." Lorelai explained._

_"Luke can waltz?!" Rory asked in shock._

_"Luke can waltz." Lorelai confirmed._

_"Look how you just said, 'Luke can waltz.'!"_

_"What, I'm just saying, I'm surprised that Luke can waltz."_

_"That sounded more like, 'I'm surprised I still have my clothes on.'"_

_"Oh, stop."_

_"What else happened?" Rory asked._

_"Nothing. We spent the evening together. We danced, he walked me home, then he asked me to a movie. All of these things individually do not add up to dating, but together, I don't know. And there was this moment, when he walked me home, where I thought -- I don't know..." Lorelai trailed off._

_"Did you say yes?"_

_"When?"_

_"To the movie. Did you say yes?"_

_"Yes." Lorelai answered._

_"That sounds like dating to me." Rory replied._

_"But maybe he didn't mean it as a date thing. Maybe he just needed to get out of the house, and since I'm currently one of the women sitting home, thinking, 'If I could only find a man like Aragorn,' he picked me."_

_"Okay, whoa, this is Luke." Rory reminded her._

_"I know."_

_"Our Luke -- the town Luke. We see him every day. He's a part of our lives."_

_"I know."_

_"I mean, everyone will know. They'll know if you're together, they'll know if you're not together."_

_"I know."_

_"You can't just date Luke. When you're with Luke, you are with Luke. And if it doesn't work out, it will be really bad for both of us. I mean, how do you feel about this? Do you want to be dating Luke?" Rory asked._

_"Okay, we're getting ahead of ourselves here. I don't even know if this is what he's thinking. This could be a totally innocent situation, and then we've done all this what-iffing for nothing. Let's just go back in there and see if anything's weird, okay?" Lorelai responded._

_"Okay." Rory agreed._

_"Okay." Lorelai said as they re-entered the diner._

_"Is everything okay?" Luke asked._

_"Yes." Lorelai said as she nonchalantly leaned against their table. She then tumbled, sending everything on the table flying, and making lots of noise._

_"I'll get the broom." Luke said as he walked away._

_"That was a little weird." Rory giggled._

"That was rather embarrassing" Lorelai commented.

"More than the door?" Rory teased.

"Don't bring up the door. Please?" Lorelai begged.

"I am _so_ bringing up the door!" Rory said with a grin. "I can never decide which event was more entertaining, so I feel it's only fair to mention them both."

_Luke entered the Inn with a bouquet of flowers in hand and looked around. Lorelai smoothed her hair, then left the front desk to approach Luke._

_"Hey, hi. You came." She greeted nervously._

_"Sure. I RSVP'd." Luke responded._

_"Oh."_

_"Here, these are for you -- a little congratulations." Luke said as he handed Lorelai the flowers._

_"Oh, they're beautiful. Thank you. I was - um…well, okay, so, we should get you all, uh, checked in. And that's...over there." Lorelai stuttered._

_Luke chuckled. "You okay?"_

_Lorelai laughed. "Oh, yeah. Me? I'm totally fine!" She turned toward the front desk and hit her face on a door as man walked by "Oh!"_

_"Lorelai!" Luke said in concern._

_Lorelai hit her head again. "Oh, Um,..." she chuckled. "I'm fine. No problem." she squinted in pain. "Um, that was your door, so you could just follow that on up…and we'll see you at dinner. Rory?!" She called as she beckoned Rory to bring the key._

_"Are you sure you're okay?" Luke asked._

_"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine It's like the third time I did that today. It's a bit. . .We're going to be the comedy inn. We finally found our theme. So, you got your key, and, uh, b-b-bye. " Luke walked up the stairs and Rory stared at Lorelai strangely. _

_"I've locked you in before, and I will do it again." Lorelai threatened._

Rory was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her cheeks. "You were just like blabbering and then BOOM!" she gasped. "And...and then you were all like 'oh, it's a bit!' and he just stared at you..." She lost control and started laughing again. She held her sides and took deep breaths. "And then you were just like 'b-b-bye!' It was so funny!"

"I'm glad you find my pain amusing." Lorelai said, though she could help her own smile as she recalled the memory.

Rory dried her eyes with her sleeve. "Sorry- you would've been laughing if you had seen it instead of experienced it..."

Lorelai giggled. "I'm sure that's true, but I really have other things to do today."

Rory nodded. "Moving on!"


	9. Never Runs Out of Love

**Number Eight: He Never Runs Out of Love**

"Is it just me, or is thing getting more and more cliche with each new sign?" Lorelai asked in disgust.

"It's just you." Rory answered.

"Hmmm. Well, you have to agree that 'never runs out of love' is slightly lame." Lorelai said.

"I think it's sweet." Rory replied, "The idea that no matter what you do, he'll always love you."

"You gonna sing the song?" Lorelai asked impatiently.

Rory rolled her eyes. "You know who hasn't run out of love? Lu-"

"Don't even _think _about finishing that name!" Lorelai interrupted angrily.

Rory winced at her mother's tone, but still replied calmly. "I'm only stating the truth."

"Well, Lincoln, you're wrong." Lorelai countered irritably.

"I'm wrong?" Rory repeated, "I'm _wrong_?! Have you _seen_ the guy lately? Oh wait, I know that you haven't! Because you've been to busy with _Dad_! Forget about the fact that you were engaged to _Luke_! Forget that you _loved_ him and he loved you too! Forget the fact that he waited _eight years_ for you and you couldn't even wait _one_ year for him! As long as you can just bounce back and marry my father, that's all that matters, right?"

Lorelai looked at her daughter in shock. She was speechless. And that didn't happen very often. Lorelai Gilmore was never speechless. She blinked a few times as the words sank in, and fought to remain in control of her emotions.

Rory regretted the words as soon as they came out of her mouth. "I'm sorry, Mom" she said softly. "I had no right to say those things."

Lorelai nodded. "I respect the fact that you're an adult now, Rory. I know that you're all grown up and everything. But you don't understand all of this, because you don't know all of the facts. You don't know everything that happened."

"Then tell me, Mom. Tell me what happened." Rory said gently.

Lorelai shook her head sadly. "He ran out of love." she whispered.

"Mom-" Rory began, but Lorelai held up a hand to silence her.

"It really doesn't matter anymore, alright?" Lorelai said in a shaky voice.

Rory nodded. "You know, if you ever do want to talk about it, I'll be right here."

Lorelai gave a weak smile, "I know, Hon. Maybe some other time. Later. When it's not all so...fresh."

"So we're talking about vegetables now?" Rory quipped in an attempt to cheer up her mother.

"Uh, yeah, we're talking about mushrooms." Lorelai giggled.

"We're talking about mushroom? Are we talking about talking mushrooms? Cause that could get confusing..." Rory said thoughtfully.

"It could. Hmm...Jackson is Sookie's 'Mushroom Man'." Lorelai stated.

Rory smiled. "I've always loved that."

"I've always been fond of cutesy couple nicknames." Lorelai agreed.

"Hey, since we're not talking about the L word-" Rory began

"Good show!" Lorelai interjected.

Rory rolled her eyes, "The other L word. Since we're not talking about him and you, can I remind you of him and his uncle?"

Lorelai nodded, "Uncle Louie?"

"Yeah. Remember when Luke had to plan the funeral and nobody wanted to come?" Rory asked.

_Lorelai watched as Luke entered the diner and joined her behind the counter._

_"Luke, there you are. I was worried." Lorelai said._

_"Yeah, sorry, I should've called. Thanks for covering again. This'll be the last time, I promise."_

_"It's okay. Where were you?" Lorelai asked._

_"Well, at first, I walked around a bunch, ya know, just trying to clear my head. Saw a lot of Hartford – and what a cesspool." Luke began._

_"Well, you're not a city man." Lorelai commented._

_"Then I calmed down after awhile and I figured dumping Louie's body in an open grave with all his stuff probably would be a little cold."_

_"Just a tad." Lorelai agreed._

_"So I got a Yellow Pages and I found the Big and Tall Casket Shop in Hartford." Luke continued._

_"You're kidding." Lorelai said in disbelief._

_"Nope, I found a casket that would fit my hundred and sixty pound uncle and his hundred and forty pounds of stuff, got the lid to shut the first time we tried it, so the funeral's on as scheduled." Luke finished._

_"Good."_

_"I still don't know why I'm doing this." Luke said._

_"You're doing it for your dad." Lorelai said gently._

_"Yeah, I guess. Although he's dead so he'd never know if I was doing it any different."_

_"He knows. He's got the big Luke picture screen on twenty four hours a day and he watches and smiles. And you're doing it 'cause you're you." Lorelai explained._

"OK, so is it horrible of me to find the mental image of Luke freaking out a funeral home and calling his dead uncle selfish, slightly amusing?" Rory asked.

Lorelai giggled, "No, I don't think so. I had to decide which I wanted to do: laugh at him or comfort him. It was, over all, an interesting experience."

Rory nodded. "Old Louie was an interesting man."

"I learned as much from all of the stories at his wake." Lorelai agreed.

"May we all leave that many stories behind when we pass away." Rory commented.

Lorelai nodded as she raised an imaginary glass. "To creating a legacy!"


	10. Always By Your Side When You Need Him

**Number Nine: Always By Your Side When You Need Him Most**

"This one's actually sweet." Lorelai said with a smile.

Rory nodded. "Very sweet."

"It's nice to have someone to lean on." Lorelai continued.

"Very nice." Rory agreed.

"Are you just going to add 'very' to everything I say?" Lorelai asked impatiently.

"Yep."

"Why are you going all monosyllable on me?" Lorelai asked in confusion.

Rory shrugged. "Just not feeling very chatty anymore."

"Why?"

Rory sighed. "Because I wanted to just sit back and listen to you talk. Maybe see if you could eventually come up with an example without me prodding you."

"Well, you can talk again, cause there's no example-coming-up-with-ing happening here." Lorelai said with a fake smile.

Rory frowned. "Am I going to have to get out my stick and poke you until you talk to me?"

Lorelai giggled. "Dirty!"

Rory smiled too. "Very. I'm sorry about that."

Lorelai nodded. "And incest. It's incest too."

Rory scrunched her nose in disgust. "Can we please stop talking about this now?"

"Yes, and you can keep your stick to yourself because I just thought of an example."

_Lorelai cautiously entered Luke's Diner and saw Luke standing behind the cash register._

_"We're closed." Luke said._

_"I know. Look, I didn't come here to make up, or to try to get you to forgive me, or talk. I wouldn't even have come here at all but I had a really crappy night and I really, really need a cup of coffee. Just pretend I'm not me. I'm Mimi, a new customer. I've never been in here before. I was just walking down the street and I spotted this place. 'Ooh, hey, nice place.' And I came in. Now Mimi is going to pour herself a cup of coffee and sit over here way far away from you, and she promises, just as soon as she's done, she will rinse out her own cup and leave." Lorelai babbled._

_Lorelai poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the end of the counter._

_"This is the second time I let myself do this." she said softly._

_"Do what?" Luke asked._

_"Think I finally found it."_

_"Found what?"_

_"Love, comfort, safety." Lorelai explained._

_"Ah." Luke responded._

_"I mean, first with Max, which of course, I screwed up, and then with Christopher, which of course, all the elements of the universe got together to screw up."_

_"Yup, it's tough when the universe is against you. That's like taking on the Manhattan garbage union." Luke sympathized._

_"I always thought if he could just get it together, grow up – maybe we could do it. Maybe we could really be a family, in the stupid, traditional 'Dan Quayle, golden retriever, grow old together, wear matching jogging suits' kind of way. And then he did get it together – he became that guy. . . and he gets to be that guy with her. Chris is gonna have a baby with his girlfriend. He's gonna marry her. . .and he's gonna be there for her while she's pregnant and he's gonna be there with her while her child grows up, and he's gonna be there for her while she does. . . whatever it is she does. And I am in exactly the same place that I was in before." Lorelai continued._

_"Is that so bad?" Luke asked, "I mean, you got Rory."_

_"Yes, I do." Lorelai agreed._

_"You got friends, you got a house, a job, apparently an iron stomach." Luke pointed out._

_"No, it's not so bad. I'm lucky, I know. I just. . .I feel like I'm never gonna have it. . .the whole package, you know? That person, that couple life, and I swear, I hate admitting it because I fancy myself Wonder Woman, but. . .I really want it – the whole package."_

_Luke put a donut on a plate, then slid it down the counter to Lorelai._

_"You'll get it." Luke assured her._

_"How do you know?" Lorelai asked._

_"I know." Luke said._

_"How do you know?" Lorelai repeated._

_"Because I know, okay? I know. Now eat your donut."_

_"I'm really not very hungry." Lorelai argued._

_"Well, take it with you. You will be later." Luke insisted._

_Lorelai wrapped up the donut and put it in her purse, then pulled out some money._

_"Forget it, first time customers are on the house." Luke said, "Mimi, was it?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Come again, Mimi."_

_"Thanks, I will." Lorelai said, "Seems like a very nice place."_

"Mimi?" Rory asked with a smirk.

"I wasn't exactly thinking clearly enough to come up with a stellar name at the time." Lorelai defended.

"Mimi." Rory repeated. "Kinda catchy, though..."

"Ha!" Lorelai smiled, "See? It was a great name!"

"Of course it was, Tibby." Rory quipped, "Did you save the name for years, just waiting until the perfect moment to use it?"

Lorelai frowned. "You know that I was never good with _Traveling Pants_ references."

Rory sighed. "I _told _you: they are great books!"

"And I told _you _that I refuse to read books that make me cry." Lorelai reminded her.

"Let's just move on." Rory suggested. "To another example, maybe?"

Lorelai smiled. "I'm feeling generous since this whole ordeal is almost over. So, I will grant you your wish."

_Lorelai walked up to the diner and banged on the door._

_"Luke!" she yelled. "Luke! Stella!"_

_She threw a rock at his apartment window. Luke opened it and leaned out._

_"Who is that?" he asked._

_"Lorelai."_

_"What are you doing down there?" Luke asked._

_"Enjoying some air, getting some exercise, and freezing." Lorelai replied._

_"Well, go home." Luke said impatiently._

_"Home? I have no home. Hunted, despised."_

_"What?" Luke asked in confusion._

_"It's from Ed Wood, the movie." Lorelai explained._

_"Have you gone bonkers?" Luke asked._

_"People are bunking at my place and I need somewhere to stay."_

_"And it just occurred to you now to look for a place?" Luke asked skeptically._

_"The stupid Hatlestads showed up." Lorelai replied._

_"Who?"_

_Mrs. Slutsky leaned out of her window. "Pipe down out there!" she yelled._

_"Go back to bed, Mrs. Slutsky!" Luke yelled back._

_"Don't talk to me that way, young man!" Mrs. Slutsky scolded._

_"Throw your keys down." Lorelai said._

_"I will not!" Mrs. Slutsky said in disgust._

_"No, Luke, Mrs. Slutsky." Lorelai corrected her._

_"I'll just come down." Luke said._

_"Do something!" Mrs. Slutsky screamed impatiently._

_"Ditto." Lorelai agreed._

_"I'm coming down." Luke repeated._

_"Okay." Lorelai said._

_Luke left the window, and Lorelai and Mrs. Slutsky stared at each other._

_"My – my inn caught fire." Lorelai tried to explain. "Hurry, Luke!"_

Rory giggled. "Mrs. Slutsky yelled at you?"

"So not the point! The point was how Luke let me stay at his place with almost zero notice." Lorelai said.

"You're right." Rory agreed. "The whole Mrs. Slutsky thing was just an added bonus!"

Lorelai sighed. "Just remember that I can withhold memories here."

Rory gasped. "You wouldn't!"

"I would and I will!" Lorelai chanted in a sing-song voice.

"I'm sorry!" Rory apologized.

"I will keep you in suspense as to whether you are forgiven or not..." Lorelai teased.


	11. You Thought of Him While Reading This

**Number Ten: You Thought of Him While You Were Reading This**

Rory smirked at her mother. "No comment."

"Hey!" Lorelai protested, "I was forced to think of him. You forced me to. So, it doesn't count."

"No I didn't." Rory argued. "I suggested that you use this to help you think of what to write in a character reference. You could have thought of examples for Dad too, if you wanted to."

Lorelai crossed her arms in front of her chest in a defensive manner.

"Look," Rory said calmly. "I'm not going to keep pressuring you about the decisions you made recently. But you really do have to write a character reference for Luke. And that's a big deal. You know how much April means to him. This reference has to be good, Mom, it has to be really good. Because, honestly, I don't think he has a very good chance."

"Rory!" Lorelai scolded.

Rory held up a hand. "I'm just trying to help you realize how important this is."

"I think I understand the importance, Rory." Lorelai said in irritation.

"Then do this for Luke. And for April." Rory continued.

"Do what?"

"Think about Luke as a person. Not necessarily while you were dating him or engaged to him or whatever. Just Luke in general. Think of his best qualities. And talk to me about it. Open up and talk to me like we used to! I know Luke too, and I might be able to help if you let me."

Lorelai nodded. "OK"

Rory sighed in relief. "Good."

"So, Miss Organization, you got a plan?" Lorelai asked.

"Uh-huh. Um...hang on..." Rory reached into her bag and pulled out a pen and a notebook.

Lorelai clapped. "Well done, my future journalist."

"Thank you" Rory smiled. "Now this is to help you out. I'm gonna make a list of every good thing about Luke that we can think of."

Lorelai snorted. "They requested a character reference, not a complete profile."

"Just go with it, please?" Rory begged.

"OK, um...he's sweet, kind, generous, helpful, funny in a sarcastic way..."

"Wait! Hold on and slow down. I cannot write that fast." Rory interrupted.

Lorelai sighed. "You'll never survive as a reporter if you can't write fast, you know."

"I record my interviews. Makes it a lot easier." Rory replied.

"You're too smart for me!" Lorelai whined. "My child has surpassed me in knowledge!"

Rory was quiet for a moment while she added her own ideas onto the list. Then, she handed the notebook over to her mother. Lorelai took the notebook and read what Rory had written. Under the list of adjectives, she had added a short note to Lorelai.

_Mom,_

_If it helps you, you can mention how Luke was a father figure to me while I was growing up. He was there even when my own father wasn't. You can write about how Luke has already shown great parenting skills when he was helping out with me. Just write whatever comes to you, OK? Don't over think it. Don't freak out or panic or get all negative. I know that you can do this. Luke is a great guy, and he was always there for us when we needed him. This is your chance to be there for him. I believe in you, and I believe that you can write an amazing character reference._

_Love,  
Rory_

Lorelai held the notebook tighter as she stood up and ran towards the stairs. Rory watched in confusion as her mom began to take the stairs two at a time.

"Thank you, Rory!" Lorelai yelled over her shoulder as she disappeared from sight.


	12. To Whom It May Concern:

Lorelai knew exactly what to write as she jogged up the stairs. She was out of breath by the time she reached her bedroom, but she didn't really care. She quickly retrieved the notebook and pen that she had hid earlier, and settled herself on her bed again. She lay down and closed her eyes, resting a hand on her heart as she waited for her breathing and heart rate to slow down to a normal pace.

Feeling more relaxed, she sat up and began writing. _How do you address a letter like this? Business. Think business letter_, she thought to herself. She wrote down the words "To Whom it May Concern", and then paused as she tried to figure out how to use words to express her emotions. She wasn't a writer. Rory was a writer. Rory would be able to use big, fancy, elegant words to make her point. People would understand what Rory was trying to say. But Lorelai wasn't like Rory. Lorelai was good at expressing herself with words...as long as it was talking. Talking was easy, talking she could do. She was the self-proclaimed Queen of Talking. Writing was somehow different from talking. It was harder. _Dirty!_ she giggled to herself as an afterthought.

She realized that she was chewing on the pen, and she removed it from her mouth in disgust. She placed the pen on the paper and wondered idly if the words would start writing themselves, or just appear letter by letter like they did in Harry Potter. She wanted a super special journal like that. She wouldn't be evil like Voldemort, though. And she wouldn't throw it through Moaning Myrtle.

Great, she was distracted again. She would never get this stupid thing done. Gah! She needed to get this done! Luke had done so much for her, and now she was too incredibly _stupid _to give him the one thing he asked for in return. She felt like such a horrible person. The frustration returned as she mentally berated herself for not being able to write a simple character reference. Just as she was about to throw the notebook across the room again, Rory's words came back to her.

_"Don't over think it"_

Lorelai sighed. Fine then, she would just write the first words that came to her mind. No cross-outs or rewrites aloud. Just her original thoughts. She began to write with a new found determination.

A wave of emotions swept over her as she tried to explain why Luke deserved to be involved in his daughter's life. "You're killing me, Luke" she muttered as she went to cross out the sentence she just wrote. Then she remembered- no cross outs this time. "Oh, you had better appreciate this!" she added bitterly as she left the sentence and began writing the next one.

Three minutes later, she paused again to roll her eyes at herself. Anyone who read this letter would be able to tell. They'd know as soon as they read the letter. They'd figure out that she was still in-Nope. _No, you're not. _She reminded herself. _You can't be. You're not aloud to be. Now just cut it out and write the letter!_ She shook her head and looked back down at the paper. She was almost there.

Twenty minutes later, Lorelai reread the character reference and smiled. She really hoped this would help Luke out. It had already helped her out...

_To whom it may concern:_

_In the nearly 10 years that I have known Luke Danes, I have come to know him as an honest and decent man. He's also one of the most kind and caring persons I have ever met. I'm a single mother, and I raised my daughter by myself, but once Luke Danes became my friend in this town, I never really felt alone. Luke and I have had our ups and downs over the years, but through it all, his relationship with my daughter, Rory, has never changed. He's always been there for her no matter what. He was there to celebrate her birthdays. He was there cheering her on at her high school graduation. Luke has been a sort of father figure in my daughter's life. With his own daughter, Luke wasn't given the opportunity to be there for her first 12 years, but he should be given that opportunity now. Once Luke Danes is in your life, he is in your life forever. I know from personal experience what an amazing gift that is, and not to allow him access to his daughter would be to seriously deprive her of all this man has to offer, and he offers so much. Thank you for your time._

_Sincerely,  
Lorelai Gilmore._

**And...that's the end. (hides behind computer)I know that a lot of you wanted me to go on farther than this or to go AU with this story. I did seriously consider making this AU and taking a completely different path. It was a tough decision, believe me. I finally decided to keep it like this, for several different reasons. This is the ending that I had in mind from the moment that I thought of the idea, and in the end, that was why I decided to keep it like this.**

**Okay, enough excuse making. On to my "thank you"s:**

**Readers- Thank you for taking the time to read this story! It really does mean a lot to me.**

**People who added this story to alerts and/or favorites- You made me feel special! Thank you!**

**Reviewers- Ah, how to thank reviewers...THANK YOU!! Reviews are the rays of sunshine that brighten up my cloudy life...They are the coffee to my muse!**

**Ellie- (hugs) Oh, Sweetie, I love you soooo much! And I'm really happy that I finally bribed you into writing fanfiction. It was worth it, right?! Thank you SO much for everything you did to help me with this story! You will forever be the Thelma to my Louise and I shall be the Rory to your Lane :)**

**Sophie- (sighs) Sophie, Sophie, Sophie, I saved you for last because I honestly have no idea how to thank you...(hugs) Without you, this story would not be finished. Without your genius ideas and excellent support, Ginny would still be giving Bailey the silent treatment! Without your wonderfully worded reviews, I would be lacking the inspiration to continue. You are the... (takes deep breath in)...Coffee to my morning, the Red Vines to my movie night, the apple tarts to my Christmas party, the...oh crap, I'm out already...Anyway, I'm sending you a virtual chocolate covered Booth!**

**And with that, I say goodbye!**


End file.
